.

Day 6

July 2, 2013

On the road again… Instead of having class today we had a fieldtrip. We drove about an hour and a half to Le Château des Baux-de-Provence in Les Baux de Provence, France. The little town reminded me of a smaller Assisi, Italy. The town is located on a steep hillside and has the remains of medieval castle at the very top. We took a guided tour of the castle and were able to take some pictures.

Afterwards we had lunch as a big group in a nearby café. I appreciate the fact that I haven’t had to pay for all my meals here, but I get hesitant at many of the big group meals because I can’t control what kind of food I will have to eat. I don’t want to insult any of the chefs by not eating my meat or anything with apples or peaches, but I also feel bad for making people go out of their way because of my specific needs. The main course today was veal, and when at least three other members of our group asked for just the rice and tomatoes, I did too. I didn’t mean to be a bother, but I’d rather the restaurant not waste such a meal on me when I certainly won’t appreciate it. I’d be curious to know what percentage of Europeans are vegetarians. It seems to be a lesser percentage than Americans, and if I remember correctly only 1% of Americans are vegetarians.

Molly and I did a quick bit of shopping after lunch. I got some Moulin Rouge and other vintage looking coasters, a small vintage poster print, and a postcard for all under 8 Euros. Molly got a bag and some soap.

Our next stop on the fieldtrip is by far one of my new favorite places. If there is a heaven on earth it must exist under a mountain, in a rock quarry, with a light show, set to classical music! Yes, you read all of that correctly. We went to an art exhibit of moving images projected onto the limestone walls of a rock quarry in Les Baux de Provence, France. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and consequently rather hard to describe. There was some confusion about if we were allowed to take pictures or not, but in the end Molly and I opted to not take any pictures and just enjoy being in the moment of the show. It reminded me of a quote from W. Eugene Smith, “The world just does not fit conveniently in the format of a 35mm camera.”

I did, however, find this online article about the rock quarry that includes a few pictures:

http://www.goworldtravel.com/travel-france-les-baux-provence-van-gogh-limestone-quarry/

NOTE: I’ve been getting a little behind on my postings to the blog because I’ve been trying not to write about the day’s experience until it’s completely finished, but I think I’m going to start updating the blog earlier in the evening if possible. It should save me from staying up even later to write about every little thing.